Her Musical Soul
by KaziRede
Summary: Duster discovers Kumatora's way of expressing her emotions. Did you know Kumatora plays piano?


Mother 3 Does not belong to me: It Belongs to Shigesato Itoi!! Enjoy!

--

Duster paced through the grey halls of Osohe castle, his footsteps echoing. The starry night outside and the full moon dimly lit the hallways, giving it an eerie glow. Duster sighed to himself and wondered why he was here in the first place. Closing his eyes, he let his mind wonder off, remember the earlier events, how his father had yelled at him for nearly setting the house on fire. It wasn't Duster's fault, how could he have known olive-oil was flammable? All he was trying to do was make himself a nice dinner.

Duster sighed again and saw the scenery around him. Osohe castle still gave off the creepy and eerie mood, but being here so many times, Duster has gotten use to that vibe. He kept wondering how this castle survived the Dragon's awakening so many months ago.

So lost in thought that Duster bumped into a figure and fell back on his bottom. He shook his head and apologized immediately. "I'm sorry, I wasn't looking where I was going … It's also very dark in here and …"

"Dude, slow down!" The figure said to him, "It's okay, I'm not hurt!"

Duster looked at the figure, seeing his dull-grey eyes and his almost formless shape. It was one of the resident ghosts that lived in this castle, one of the friendly ones at least. Duster let out a sigh of relief.

"Hey …" He said, waving at the ghost, "I'm actually hiding from my dad … do you mind if I just stay here for a bit?"

The ghost shrugged. "It's okay with me, but you really should ask the mistress. She doesn't really like uninvited guests."

"I know that for a fact …" Duster sighed, "I really should remember to knock first …."

The ghost laughed, "After how you dropped in on her last time, I'm surprised how you could even show your face around here!"

Duster blushed deeply. Just merely days before, he and Lucas had dropped by just to say hi to her, and ended up getting a sneak peek of her room … with her still inside it, changing her clothes. Duster cringed as he remembered the pain he received after word – Lucas had to cover his eyes from the sheer violence.

"Is she still mad at me for that?" Duster asked, "I mean, I said I was sorry …"

"Eh, I dunno." The Ghost said, "She's been stuck in her room doing only God knows what."

"I though you ghosts could phase through walls …?" Duster asked.

"We can, but we'd rather leave the Mistress alone. Even as ghosts, we can still be afraid of death, especially if it's her delivering it."

Duster sighed. "Well, maybe I can make amends. She knows that I did it on accident … or at least I hope I know …"

Duster walked down the hall again, but then stopped. His ears picked up a pleasant tune that rang through out the entire castle. He couldn't help but be hypnotized by the notes that played, feeling his heart being lifted and his mind being set at ease. The tune was very pleasant, but at the same time, quite sad.

Duster shook his head and turned to the ghost, getting back to reality. "Hey, that sounds good." Duster said, referring to the music. "Is Charlie playing on his Piano again?"

The ghost stood there, shaking his head sideways. "Duster, _I'm_ Charlie."

Duster blinked, turned towards the direction of the Music, then turned back at Charlie. "Then … who …?"

"It's prob'ly the Mistress." The ghost known as Charlie answered.

Duster stood aghast, staring at Charlie with the utmost disbelief of what he had just heard.

"Kumatora … Kumatora knows how to play piano …?"

"Oh sure, she's a pro at it." Charlie said with pride, "I taught her the basics when she was young, and she just picked it up with ease. She has such a great ear when it comes to leaning music and just playing it … She could melt anyone's heart."

"I didn't know …" Duster said, his face turned toward the music, "She never said anything to me …"

"She doesn't like to admit she has talent." Charlie said, chuckling, "She use to love playing the piano, but nowadays, she just plays when she's feeling upset."

Upset … Duster didn't know how, but by listening to the Music, he could just feel that Kumatora was upset. The music intensified, playing so loud he figured all of the island's residents could hear. He had done similar things back at Club Titiboo, he would play his bass when he felt uneasy, scared, angry, any negative feeling that OJ didn't like.

"Maybe I should go talk to her …" Duster said to himself.

"Good Luck." The Ghost said as Duster walked away.

Duster felt his heart beat hard in his chest. He was as much afraid to face Kumatora as the rest of the ghosts were, but he didn't feel anything could be worse than Kumatora ignoring him.

Without really thinking, he found himself upstairs facing the Banquet hall Door. He heard the Piano being played through the door, as intense and 'Angry' as ever. Should he knock? No, he didn't want to disturb the music in any way. But he was going to do that anyhow, seeing how he wanted to talk to her. Maybe the best thing to do is just open the door and quietly sneak in, hoping that Kumatora wouldn't notice him.

He rested his hand on the doorknob and turned it, the door making a loud squeak as he opened it. Thankfully the music kept going, meaning that Kumatora hadn't noticed his presence yet. Duster carefully crept in, his footsteps silent and light, and closed the door...

SLAM! A barrage of sour note attacked Duster's ears. Duster cringed as if in pain; he knew what those Sour notes meant in musical terms.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING IN HERE, DUSTER?!" Kumatora yelled at Duster, her face red with anger.

Duster felt dumb as he looked at Kumatora with uneasy eyes. She was breathing heavily, obviously not happy that her beautiful music was disturbed. Duster knew he did something wrong, and his heart was punishing him for disturbing the beautiful music. He had to do something, and he had to do it now.

"Keep on playing" Duster said silently, staring at Kumatora.

"W-what?" Kumatora said, bewildered by this demand.

"The music that you were playing … play it again …" Duster repeated.

Kumatora blinked at Duster, who just stared at her. In truth, Duster really did want Kumatora to continue her music: it was so beautiful and full of emotion. But Duster wanted her to continue for another reason … it was just hard to believe that Kumatora, the manly princess who would beat anyone to a pulp if you touched the wrong button, could play such music. He had to see it for himself to believe it.

Kumatora stood silent, her eyes locked on Duster. Finally, after a few more silent moments, Kumatora sat down on the piano bench again and rested her fingers upon the ivory keys. Duster watched as Kumatora's hand flared up and down the piano with ease, never missing a note. As before, Kumatora played the music with so much emotion. Duster read her emotions through the Music: She was obviously confused and uneasy that Duster was here. He still also sensed a tinge of anger under her music.

As the Music kept playing, Duster crept up to the piano, never taking his eyes off of Kumatora. Finally, he sat down on the bench beside her, feeling tense. Kumatora kept on playing as smoothly as possible, Duster still watching her moving hands fly so gracefully. Finally, her song finished, she rested her hands in her lap, and looked at Duster, anger in her eyes.

"What do you want?" Kumatora said bluntly.

"I … um, I just …" Duster fumbled for words, finding nothing.

"You know I don't like to be disturbed." Kumatora said, looking back at the piano in front of her.

Duster sighed. "I know. I'm sorry, I couldn't help myself." Duster rubbed the back of his head, "I just never heard such beautiful music … Why didn't you tell me you played piano?"

Kumatora's eyes settled, the anger finally gone. "I'm not sure." Kumatora replied, "I just never really felt comfortable telling anyone about it … I mean, I still have an image to keep up!"

"But this is a side of you I've never seen." Duster admitted, "Some one who just wants to spill her emotions out, and frankly, I think this is the best way to do it."

Kumatora stared at Duster. "What do you mean?"

Duster rested his hand on the piano and let his fingers play a couple of notes. He only knew tidbits of what Shimmy Zumizu had tried to show him, but all in all, he had _no_ clue on how to play piano. "It's not good to bottle up your emotions, you need to let it out somehow … I know, I've been there …"

Kumatora looked back at the piano, and without warning, started to play again. This time, the music felt very soft. Duster knew that Kumatora was feeling a bit better, but she felt uneasy still. Duster glanced at Kumatora beside her, then back at the piano, and started plunking out notes that seemed to match very well with her music.

Their music rang throughout the castle, a subtle duet. The resident ghosts both friendly and hostile, listened intently to the music. The music intensified to boldly that the dragon himself would've been pleased at the music.

The song finished, Both Duster and Kumatora sat there, three hands on the piano. Duster lifted his hand off the piano first and smiled at Kumatora, who smiled back. Duster's heart lifted as he saw this: She was finally happy again. Duster patted Kumatora's head slightly as he got up. "We should do this again, sometime" he quipped.

"Yeah, I could teach you a thing or two about playing piano." Kumatora said, laughing.

Duster was about to walk out the room when Kumatora's voice piped up again.

"Um … do you mind if … y'know … can you stay over tonight?"

Duster blushed a deep shade of red as she asked this. He had forgotten he was over here to hide from his father, and whirled around and smiled.

"S-sure!" Duster stuttered, "B-but do you mind if I ask you of something?"

"What is it?" Kumatora asked.

Duster walked over again touched her shoulders, slightly kissing her on the cheek.

"Play one more song. And don't stop playing."

--

Okay, You can imagine any Piano song here ... Frankly, I was listening to some one play "Bloody Tears" from Castlevania on Piano and the Piano Duet from Corpse Bride. So yeah ... um ... Thanks for reading ;


End file.
